4.6 KiB
Frequently asked questions and troubleshooting
If you find an interesting or important question missing, submit it via https://github.com/AFLplusplus/AFLplusplus/issues.
Contents
- What is the difference between AFL and AFL++?
- I got a weird compile error from clang
- How to improve the fuzzing speed?
- How do I fuzz a network service?
- How do I fuzz a GUI program?
- What is an edge?
- Why is my stability below 100%?
- How can I improve the stability value?
What is the difference between AFL and AFL++?
AFL++ is a superior fork to Google's AFL - more speed, more and better mutations, more and better instrumentation, custom module support, etc.
For more information about the history of AFL++, see docs/history_afl++.md.
I got a weird compile error from clang
If you see this kind of error when trying to instrument a target with afl-cc/ afl-clang-fast/afl-clang-lto:
/prg/tmp/llvm-project/build/bin/clang-13: symbol lookup error: /usr/local/bin/../lib/afl//cmplog-instructions-pass.so: undefined symbol: _ZNK4llvm8TypeSizecvmEv
clang-13: error: unable to execute command: No such file or directory
clang-13: error: clang frontend command failed due to signal (use -v to see invocation)
clang version 13.0.0 (https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project 1d7cf550721c51030144f3cd295c5789d51c4aad)
Target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
Thread model: posix
InstalledDir: /prg/tmp/llvm-project/build/bin
clang-13: note: diagnostic msg:
********************
Then this means that your OS updated the clang installation from an upgrade package and because of that the AFL++ llvm plugins do not match anymore.
Solution: git pull ; make clean install of AFL++
How to improve the fuzzing speed?
See docs/best_practices.md#improving-speed.
How can I improve the stability value?
See docs/best_practices.md#improving-stability.
How do I fuzz a network service?
The short answer is - you cannot, at least not "out of the box".
For more information, see docs/best_practices.md#fuzzing-network-service.
How do I fuzz a GUI program?
See docs/best_practices.md#fuzzing-gui-program.
What is an "edge"?
A program contains functions, functions contain the compiled machine code.
The compiled machine code in a function can be in a single or many basic blocks.
A basic block is the largest possible number of subsequent machine code
instructions that has exactly one entrypoint (which can be be entered by multiple other basic blocks)
and runs linearly without branching or jumping to other addresses (except at the end).
function() {
A:
some
code
B:
if (x) goto C; else goto D;
C:
some code
goto E
D:
some code
goto B
E:
return
}
Every code block between two jump locations is a basic block.
An edge is then the unique relationship between two directly connected basic blocks (from the
code example above):
Block A
|
v
Block B <------+
/ \ |
v v |
Block C Block D --+
\
v
Block E
Every line between two blocks is an edge.
Note that a few basic block loop to itself, this too would be an edge.
Why is my stability below 100%?
Stability is measured by how many percent of the edges in the target are "stable". Sending the same input again and again should take the exact same path through the target every time. If that is the case, the stability is 100%.
If however randomness happens, e.g. a thread reading other external data, reaction to timing, etc., then in some of the re-executions with the same data the edge coverage result will be different accross runs. Those edges that change are then flagged "unstable".
The more "unstable" edges, the more difficult for AFL++ to identify valid new paths.
A value above 90% is usually fine and a value above 80% is also still ok, and even a value above 20% can still result in successful finds of bugs. However, it is recommended that for values below 90% or 80% you should take countermeasures to improve stability.